Nonne interlinguistica linguisticae generalis ancilla?

Some reflections on the theoretical implications of a heterodox path

Abstract

Nonne interlinguistica linguisticae generalis ancilla? Some reflections on the theoretical implications of a heterodox path. “The heterodox branch of Linguistics”, as succesfully defined by André Martinet more than thirty years ago, Interlinguistics has found its place in the University of Parma, since 2018, with an independent course, which dedicates a lot of time in the classroom activity to discuss linguistic creation and creativity, starting from the founding premise of Alessandro Bausani, which concluded his famous Le lingue inventate (1974) with theese words: “At the end of this long excursus on linguistic invention we would like to conclude by affirming that any invented language, be it sacral, or of a practical type, or of a playful / infantile type or other, is an approach to the problem of language. It is a disassembling and reassembing the elements of language, trying and re-trying the various pieces in new structures, like a child playing with his Meccano”. Starting from this point of view, we present, among other things, within the relationship between ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’, some examples of texts, which allow us to present theoretical contents and the practical implications of interlinguistic reflection on the more general basic linguistic education, aiming to exemplify the meaning of this educational path through some of its most emblematic didactic moments.